is invalid.’ Then I went to Ibn Abī Laylā and asked him. He replied, ‘The sale is valid, but the stipulation is invalid.’ Then I went to Ibn Shubruma and asked him. He replied, ‘The sale is valid, and so is the stipulation.’ I said, ‘Glory be to Allah! Three jurists of Iraq have disagreed over a single question!’
“So I returned to Abū Hanīfa and told him. He said, ‘I do not know what the other two said. ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb narrated to me, from his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prohibited a sale coupled with a stipulation.’
“Then I went to Ibn Abī Laylā and told him. He said, ‘I do not know what the other two said. Hishām ibn ʿUrwa narrated to me, from his father, from ʿĀʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, instructed me to buy Barīra and free her, even if her owners stipulated that they retain the right of patronage, for patronage belongs to the one who grants freedom.” The sale is valid, but the stipulation is invalid.’
“Then I went to Ibn Shubruma and told him. He said, ‘I do not know what the other two said. Misʿar ibn Kidām narrated to me, from Muhārib ibn Dithār, from Jābir, who said: “I sold the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, a she-camel, and he stipulated that I retain the right to milk and ride her as far as Medina.” Thus, the sale is valid, and so is the stipulation.’”
Mālik—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—knew all these hadiths, applied each in its proper context, and interpreted each appropriately. As for Abū Hanīfa, Ibn Abī Laylā and Ibn Shubruma, they neither examined the matter thoroughly nor interpreted the transmitted reports well. Allah grants success to whomever He wills.
As for disapproved sales, these are sales whose permissibility scholars have disputed. The ruling is that they must be rescinded while still open to rescission; once the point precluding rescission has been reached, they are not reversed, out of consideration for the disagreement concerning them. Thus Ibn Wahb narrated from Mālik that a disapproved sale is not reversed once that point has been reached. Some such sales are more strongly disapproved than others. In some, the conclusion of the contract itself precludes rescission; in others, taking possession does so; and in others, it is the goods themselves becoming unavailable for restitution. In still others, there is disagreement over what precludes rescission, as with purchasing a crop once its grain has matured but before it has dried, and similar cases.